On Deck with HWSD

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

HYP is without a doubt my favorite meet of the year and this year’s did not disappoint. In fact, it may have been the most exciting meet of my life, because the meet title between Harvard and Princeton came down to the very last relay. Everyone was on their feet and cheering like crazy; I almost lost my voice. Princeton won that relay by a fraction, but we went into the relay with a five-point lead. So it was painfully suspenseful as we waited for the scoreboard to update with the final team scores and when it did, we couldn’t believe it: 150-150. I don’t know if that’s ever happened before in HYP history, but I couldn’t have expected anything more exciting.

With HYP under our belt and taper working its magic, we’re gearing up for our championship meets. We’ll be dividing and conquering, with one team racing at the Ohio State Winter Invite this weekend and another team defending our own Blodgett Pool at the Ivy League Championships the following weekend. While the two teams may be physically apart, we’ll be continuing to come together as one team and supporting each other - just another reason why I love this team!

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

This week has been nothing short of crazy for HWSD!After spending two weeks on campus just
swimming and hanging out, it was definitely an adjustment to start classes
again.As prepared as we were to tackle
full schedules again, we were all blessed with a snow day after just one day of
classes, which was spent relaxing and sledding outside in the snow.As the end of the week approaches, we are all
getting more and more excited to swim fast at HYP.Of course, with training trip under our belts
and the end of the season so close, we are also looking forward to the best
time of the year…taper!Go Harvard and
happy shopping week!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

January has been a crazy time for HWSD! After spending a couple of much-needed weeks at home with family and friends for the holidays, I was so excited to be back with the team! Once we arrived on campus, the team rang in the New Year with a tough set before flying out to beautiful, sunny Puerto Rico. The trip was filled (of course) with some of the most challenging training we've faced all year. The 50-point set was a definite highlight for me; it was incredible watching the entire team come together and push each other to hit goal times and finish the set.But not all of our time was spent at the pool! The whole team took an afternoon to try surfing, and later in the trip, swimmers enjoyed zip lining through the rainforest while divers got to spend time exploring bioluminescent waters. Whether it was during these amazing adventures, or our practices, or even just our family-style, nightly dinners, there's no doubt that training trip let HWSD become even closer. After a crazy day of travel, we capped the week off with a meet against two strong teams: Duke and South Carolina, and we fought down to the last relay. The meet left HWSD ready to get back to Cambridge and excited for the final stretch of the season before championships!

Monday, December 15, 2014

It's been a busy couple of weeks for HWSD! After returning from an amazingly fun and successful weekend at Texas, MIT, and Georgia, the team jumped right into Reading Period and began preparing for final papers and exams. As everyone's getting ready, practice provides us all with a way to take a break from the stress and monotony of studying and writing, and it's been great having everyone back together again after a weekend at different meets. It's amazing to see the endless support from my fellow teammates, both in and out of the pool.

As the semester comes to an end (still weird to think about) and everything begins to wrap up, the team's getting excited for some time at home. However, the anticipation and excitement of training trip is already in the air as everyone gets ready for some amazing training, warm weather, and unforgettable time spent with each other.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Some members of HWSD at the Texas meet relax before the first session.

The MIT group "selfie".

December is finally here! ‘Tis the season of cold weather, finals, and fast swimming! HWSD is back at it in Blodgett after getting a much needed break for Thanksgiving. Following the break, the whole team was together for just two short days before splitting up again, this time heading for the much anticipated winter invitational meets. Keep an eye out for amazing swims at MIT and Texas, and killer diving at Georgia over the next few days. We’re excited to show off all of the work we’ve been putting in over the last few months.

Of course, it wouldn’t be winter without final papers and exams. So as Reading Period begins and deadlines loom closer, we use practice as an opportunity to de-stress, come together as a team, and take a break from the academic frenzy of finals. And knowing that training trip in Puerto Rico is less than a month away gives us something to look forward to!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Picture of our current and Alumni swimmers at the meet before the Harvard-Yale Game

It was a crazy weekend for HWSD! This past Friday we competed against Columbia at home- making up for last year's loss and putting another win in the book, now with a 3-0 record for the season. Saturday morning we welcomed back many alumni and friends of Harvard Swimming and Diving for the annual Alumni Meet at Blodgett, racing 25s and 50s with our alums before a fun “tailgate” in the Zoo. Afterwards, many of us headed to The Game- where Harvard beat Yale in a nail-biter. We closed up our short week with two more days of training, and then most of us were happy to go home and spend Thanksgiving with family and friends- getting in some R&R before we get back for the last few days of classes and looking forward to swimming fast at our December invite meets at Texas, Georgia, and MIT next weekend!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Harvard-Yale weekend is here! A Harvard tradition and day of
revelry, The Game inspires both Harvard and Yale students to show their school
pride and head to the stadium to watch the football teams duke it out to see
who wins. With the forecast being in the mid-30s for the day, you can be sure
that I will have lots of layers of Harvard gear on! Of course, that’s only
after the annual alumni swim meet and swim team tailgate at the pool. Getting
to see some of the recent grads is always a highlight. We miss our seniors from
last year!

HWSD is also feeding off of the energy on campus for our
second meet of the season against Columbia this Friday. Columbia is always a
competitive meet for us and gives us a great opportunity to race before we head
into Thanksgiving and our December invite. With two wins against Cornell and
Dartmouthunder our belt, we’re excited to match up against our third Ivy
school!